Janet Thielke is a writer whose work has appeared in numerous literary journals and was recognized as a "Distinguished Story" in Best American Short Stories 2020. She is the author of the middle-grade novel Twelfth (published as Janet Key).
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Description
Contents
But It Moves
Alpha Whiskey Alpha Yankee
The Tattooed Lady
Eggs
Life Is Hard and Unfair: Or, A Semester Breakdown
Men Watch the Women and the Women Watch the Women
Along for the Ride
Have You Seen Me?
Pedro
Val
The Bullet Game
Frantic Hearts
This Time
Big Girls
Acknowledgments
In these illuminative stories, Janet Thielke writes with great clarity about people to whom little is clear. In spaces both realistic and speculative, her characters travel roads where most forks lead to dark places, face decisions where all the choices available to them are disagreeable, if not demonstrably bad. Thielke, however, writes with such precise empathy and grace that when her characters in their lostness cry out, Hey! Here I am!, we listen with a dose of kindness and understanding we didnt possess before we picked up the book. Hey, we wish we could say, we hear you.
—Tony Earley, author of Jim the Boy
In this savvy, deft book, Janet Thielke spotlights the precarity and absurdities in family lives, the head-banging strains of life off-script for adults and the kids in their orbits. Easy narratives have collapsed, adulthood is improv, and everyone grapples with what it means to be big. Thielkes wit, vivid prose, playwrights ear, and canny portraits make for an irresistible read. Big Girls is a wonderful book.
—Nancy Reisman, author of Trompe LOeil
As the title suggests, these are stories of heft and might, each of them packing a powerful emotional punch. Alive with sparkling wit, with sharp insights, the narratives gathered here and their heartbreakingly sentient characters promise to remain with readers long after the last page has been turned.
—Lorraine M. López, author of Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories
These excellent stories of searing honesty and beautifully sharp detail reminded me of Lorrie Moore; the sentences and characterizations are so assured that they go down easy, with plentiful insight sneaking in along the way. Such a great debut!
—Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade